Moving to San Diego, California?

Sorry for the people that didn't answer your question. You will find people here friendly.

Living here & not being a tourist ( I forget about a lot of the touristy things) I would suggest Sea World, the USS Midway aircraft carrier, leggoland, old town, the zoo, a jet ski AND of course the beaches. I still go to the beach. I prefer mission beach. I would definitely take a surfing lesson. I like Surfari. Call for a group lesson. Adam is pretty cool. Close by is the Catamaran hotel. There you can rent a beach cruiser to bike up & down the bay side or cross the street to cruise the Pacific side. They also offer sailing lessons. You can learn to sail a small boat in about 1/2 an hour.

Be prepared to pay for parking everywhere :( The only free lot I know of is by Surfari. IF you're heading South on Mission Blvd. Turn left at the first light about 1 block past the surf shop. You can't miss the parking lot. There's actually 3. If you can't find the other two go into the bldg & ask how to find the other 2. As I said & you can see I'm more of a beach guy. Here are a few links to the above mentioned. The rental places I've found to be the best for me, hope you do too.

Have fun.

Mapquest is good but a GPS will really help. I would buy one for $100- at best buy rather then rent one from the car place at 5,6 X's the price.

Not sure why everyone assumes these students are not able to navigate by themselves.

First If I were 22 and I was once I would move to PB. I lived there when young and it is still the part of town to be in

Second bring enough resources to buy a car. It is useful as public transportation is next to useless here and make sure you get insurance.

Get bicycles for getting around PB and be sure to lock them

As far as work contact the university and get information from them

Work is hard to come by here but with persistence or luck you will prevail. I would sock away as much cash as you can before you come for comfort or some sort of plan.

Good luck

A J1 visa is through an agency. Yes, you can travel to the US through the agency's sponsorship without an actual position lined up. A J1 visa does not allow you to have just "any" job. It has to be a educational or cultural job in the J1 visa category that you specify. Attempting to get a job as a bartender or retail clerk, will NOT qualify. If you do not have a job within 30 days of arriving in the states, your visa is void and you need to leave the US or you are in the country illegally. As a result, it's better to have a job lined up before you step on a plane or expect to only be in the states 30 days.

Here is information regarding J1 visas. This is US State Department website (official government website):

http://j1visa.state.gov/

It appears you know the basics of the J1 visa. Based on what you know, I doubt that you have actually been approved for this cultural exchange visa. On the J1 visa, you can't work anywhere you want that will pay the bills. Here is a link to the Department of Homeland Security I9 form - Right to Work in the US. To work at "any" job, you must be able to complete this form. As you can see a J1 visa does not give you the right to work in the US. As a result, you can only work at jobs that have special agreements allowing for J1 visa holders.

http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/files/for...

Sorry, but you cannot move here to work without some kind of job all ready lined up with a company/employer sponsoring you!

There is no such thing as a free reign work visa where you come here first and then worry about getting a job afterwards....I mean even with the internships/summer work programs (including ones SPECIFICALLY FOR IRISH CITIZENS) still require you to have a job/sponsor organized on this side of the atlantic before you can even try to apply for them

http://j1visa.state.gov/programs/summer-work-trave...

http://j1visa.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2012/09...

And just in case you're curious, it's been like that for a LONG TIME, I mean that's how it worked for my dad when he moved here from the UK 30 years ago when he was lucky enough to get a job offer here, and as far as I can tell from the Visa/US State Dept website, that hasn't changed! So I have no clue what kind of visa you're talking about.

Though if you're serious feel free to look over the visa site to find the one your talking about.

http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english.html

oh really? and who says you will be allowed to STAY in the US? do you ALL have sponsorship? because without it you sure as hell are NOT going to be allowed to move here and without a Green Card none of you can WORK.

if you were each granted a Work Visa( the only other way to be allowed to stay here) the company who hired you dictates where you reside and what you will be doing.

You can not move there. You will not qualify for a sponsored work visa. You can not even look for work as a tourist.

Good luck getting thru immigration